Drake Maye keeps climbing, and the Patriots are running out of excuses if they want to keep pace with him.
CBS Sports’ Mike Renner just slotted the New England quarterback as the second-best first-round pick since 2020, placing him behind only Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow on a list of 64 selections. That group includes Justin Jefferson, Jackson Smith-Njigba, Micah Parsons, Jayden Daniels and Tristan Wirfs, so landing near the top is no small thing.
For New England, the bigger message is simple: the Maye pick looks like a hit, but the team’s job is only starting. Under Bill Belichick, poor drafting helped push the all-time coach out the door in Foxborough. The Patriots finally got the quarterback right in 2024, and now the pressure is on the front office not to waste the advantage.
Renner’s evaluation of the Patriots’ first-round picks from 2000-2025 made that point even more sharply.
"I'll address what I assume will be the Patriots' most controversial ranking, with Will Campbell already falling into the bottom third. For a team that desperately wanted a left tackle, the most generous reading of his rookie season puts him as the third-best tackle in the 2025 draft class despite being the first one taken.
If you factor in projectable traits, he could realistically be the last of the five first-round offensive tackles taken in a redraft. Ultimately, it doesn't matter much because Drake Maye comes in at No. 2 on this list with a real argument to eventually be No. 1."
That’s a brutal note for Will Campbell, whose injury helped derail his 2025 season and playoffs. But Renner’s bigger point is the one Patriots fans care about most: Maye is already in rare air, and he may not be done rising.
Maye’s ceiling is the kind that changes everything. He’s already carried a mediocre roster to a Super Bowl in only his second season, and his mix of pinpoint passing and top running ability gives him a chance to win at the highest level. Renner said Maye has a real argument to eventually be No. 1, and the case can be made that he’s there already.
The catch is that talent like this needs help. If the players around Maye don’t do their jobs, his ascent can stall.
Training camp is underway, and it won’t take long to see whether Mike Vrabel and the front office fixed the offensive problems that kept Maye from reaching all of his 2025 goals. The source still sees major holes, and if those gaps remain, they’ll slow him down.
Even so, nothing about Maye feels small. With his skill set, Super Bowls and an MVP award are on the table, and the Patriots’ future depends on whether they finally stop making the same old mistake around a quarterback who looks built for the top of the league.
In Other News...
DeAndre Hopkins Just Created A New Patriots Question At Camp
DeAndre Hopkins brief stop in Foxborough gave the Patriots a little extra star power during training camp, with the veteran receiver spending a few days around the wideout room to observe and help out. It was an unusual arrangement, but one that fit the tone of camp: a chance for younger receivers to pick up a few things from a player who has spent years at the top of the position.
Mike Vrabel said Hopkins time with the team has now ended as planned, closing the book on a short stay that was always meant to be temporary. The move still leaves an interesting question hanging over New England, though, because Hopkins presence was enough to make people wonder whether this was just a one-off visit or the start of something more down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Camp Just Exposed One Roster Battle Fans Feared Most
The Patriots are about to reach a more revealing point in camp, with their fifth practice session set to be the first in full pads. After a few days of lighter work, that should give coaches a better read on a roster that has already been reshaped by major additions at receiver and by the early push from players trying to hold onto jobs. Romeo Doubs and A.J. Brown are still building chemistry with Drake Maye under Josh McDaniels, while the offensive line has shown enough promise to suggest the group may be coming together faster than expected.
Kayshon Boutte has also turned early opportunities into a real roster argument, which matters on a depth chart that suddenly has more competition than it did a month ago. Camp is still young, but the next few padded sessions should tell a lot about who can separate from the pack and who is simply keeping pace. For a team trying to sort out its passing game and stabilize the pieces around Maye, those evaluations carry more weight than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Vrabel Just Raised A Bigger Patriots WR Question As Boutte Surges
Training camp is usually where a team learns whether its receiver room is deep enough to survive the season, and Mike Vrabel made clear that New England is still sorting through that question. He pointed to the value of competition at the position and left open the idea that the Patriots could improve the group in a few different ways, whether through added draft capital, bringing in a player or simply sticking with what is already there.
Kayshon Boutte has helped make that conversation more interesting. Vrabel praised the third-year receiver for a strong offseason, a good start to camp and the professional way he has handled his role, noting how much he has already meant to the team's success. With Boutte in a contract year and trying to keep building on that momentum, the bigger issue for New England is whether his rise is enough to settle the depth chart or only sharpens the need to keep looking. [Read more 🡒]